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"Gotcha" Culture Floods the E-Cig Market

Posted by
Jimmy
on March 16, 2016

Yesterday I had a co-worker gleefully tell me that if you put a single drop of e-Juice on a child's hand, it can burn the child's skin. I responded by explaining the effects of putting a single lit cigarette out on a child’s hand.

The amount of conjecture I deal with as a vaper is turning into borderline harassment. The buzz around electronic cigarettes has made anyone from family members to strangers on the street into amateur health experts who revel in describing a 90-second alarmist clip they saw on the evening news.

I am a vaping enthusiast and I have received all sorts of benefits from quitting tobacco. When confronted with vague claims of peril, I used to jump into e-cig defense mode. This ultimately turns into E-Cig 101 because nearly 100% of the time my alarmist's have no understanding about the technology or chemistry involved. This approach was a mistake! These people are not concerned with my health and are not attempting to relay some potentially helpful information. They don’t want to hear me explain e-cigarettes. They saw an opportunity to catch me in a “GOTCHA” moment by inferring that I’ve made a mistake and they want to nail me for it.

So what’s the solution? What’s the proper response? Condescendingly tell them, “You’re right! Will you please dispose of my e-cig in the nearest garbage can?” All seem fun and a bit of fighting fire with fire, but I have found simple honesty about the benefits of quitting cigarettes to be most effective. I personally have enjoyed improved lung functionality, increased levels of energy, healthier skin and whiter teeth, but this is just the tip of the iceberg. Common medical knowledge related to quitting cigarettes is that after 12 hours of quitting regular cigarettes (analogs) the carbon monoxide levels in your body will decrease to normal, after 1-9 months the cilia in your lungs begin to regrow, fighting off infection; and 1 year after quitting, the risk of heart disease has decreased to half of that of a continuing smoker.

Electronic Cigarettes do not universally have the same make up. There are dozens of wires, wicks, batteries and different juices, so just like anything else you put in your body, do some research before you try them. In my search for answers I have found CASAA.org, Wikipedia.com, reddit.com/r/electronic_cigarette and e-cigarette-forum.com helpful, because the truth is that no one knows the long-term effects of e-cigarettes, but logic would point to them being less harmful than regular cigarettes.